Sung Sot Cave

Sung Sot cave is the most famous cave in Halong Bay which is in the center of the UNESCO World Heritage area.

An overview

Sung Sot cave is the largest, the most renowned, and likely the most visited of all of Halong’s caves. Among 1,969 sunken limestone mountains submerged under waters of Halong Bay are mysterious ancient caves and grottoes, many of which have remained unexplored. Nowadays, these caves are ideal attractions in Halong Bay calling for tourists. Along with Thien Cung Cave and Dau Go Cave, Sung Sot Cave is one of the largest and most beautiful caves in Halong. Undoubtedly the most famous of them all is Sung Sot Cave.

Sung Sot cave

What You’ll See at Sung Sot Cave

There’s a small dock at Bo Hon Island, where you leave your boat and begin climbing up 100 steps to Sung Sot Cave. The road visiting Sung Sot Cave is under lush of trees shadow. Walking through steep rock stair, tourists may have the feeling of climbing on mountains and experience the excitement as if they are walking to the sky. The cave covers 10,000 square meters, about 30 meters high and contains a 500-meter long passage.

There are two partitions in the cave, the first one looks like a theater hall with thousands of stalactites hanging on the ceiling. A narrow tunnel leads to the second chamber, where there is a flow of natural light glittering. The light is filtering from above, through a large opening natural skylight, this opening route is also the exit way from the cave. The bottom of this chamber is a “royal garden” appears with a pond and a fascinating landscape of small mountains along with living birds and plants here.

Sung Sot cave

Entering the second chamber through a small tunnel, visitors can enjoy a completely different space which can accommodate thousands of people. Right next to the entrance is a horse made from stone standing next to a long sword. According to an ancient myth, Thanh Giong or also called Phu Dong Thien Vuong - a mythical folk hero of Vietnam's history, defeated An invaders. Later on, after helping the residents to expel demons, he left the horse and the sword in order to reassure people and banish demons and back to the sky. It is said that there are still many remains and sceneries in the Cave proving the brutal battles between Thanh Giong and invaders. Especially, the footprints of the horse became small ponds along with crumbled rocks.